General Dynamics Electric Boat, the Connecticut-based builder of U.S. Navy submarines, is encouraging more people to work from home as it contends with a surge in coronavirus infections among its workforce.
A total of 404 infections have been reported among Electric Boat staff, including 170 in the three weeks leading up to Nov. 13. The Groton-based company employs about 12,000 people in Connecticut, 4,000 in Rhode Island and a small number at shipyards elsewhere in the U.S.
“We like the community are seeing an uptick in infections,” company spokesperson Liz Power said.
She said the company has added sanitizing stations, conducted aggressive contact tracing and expanded the ability to work from home for workers who do not have to be in the shipyards.
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Electric Boat president Kevin Graney, who contracted COVID-19 himself in April, addressed the increase in a recent podcast for employees.
“I’m very concerned about this trend as I know you are,” Graney said, according to The Providence Journal. “We understand that cases are rising in the community and that means that we cannot let our guard down — we must adhere to all of the measures we’ve been taking for the last several months.
